Daodejing II. 76.

When he is born, man is soft and weak; in death he becomes stiff and hard. The ten thousand creatures and all plants and trees while they are alive are supple and soft, but when and dead they become brittle and dry. Truly, what is stiff and hard is a “companion of death”; what is soft and weak is a “companion of life”. Therefore “the weapon that is too hard will be broken, the tree that has the hardest wood will be cut down”. Truly, the hard and mighty are cast down; the soft and weak set on high.

A man is supple and weak when living, but hard and stiff when dead.
Grass and trees are pliant and fragile when living, but dried and shrivelledwhen dead.
Thus the hard and the strong are the comrades of death;
The supple and the weak are the comrades of life.

Therefore a weapon that is strong will not vanquish;
A tree that is strong will suffer the axe.
The strong and big takes the lower position,
The supple and weak takes the higher position.

The Way and Its Power – Dao De Jing II. 76. – Chinese on/off – Français/EnglishAlias Daode Jing, Dao De Jing, Tao Te Ching, Tao Teh Ching, le Tao-tö-king, Lao-Tzu Te-Tao Ching, the Laozi, Lao Zi, the Lao Tze, le Lao-tseu, The Book of the Way and its Virtue, the Way and its Power.